PM: Norway's GDP growth dragged down by low oil price

Norway's economic growth will be lower in 2015 than predicted in the October budget bill due to the low oil price, Prime Minister Erna Solberg told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on Thursday.

"But it is not as serious as you would think because we’ve got other businesses which will be able to gain from increased growth abroad," Solberg said.

"In the short term, it is of course more challenging because it leads to more uncertainty around the economy," she added.

The government predicted in October that the mainland economy, or excluding the offshore oil and shipping sectors, would grow by 2.0% this year. The central bank meanwhile forecast mainland growth at 1.5% in December.